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Paul, moving from a class of 600 students to a class of only 66.
Years later, in 2018, the situation repeated itself in his professional
life when, after serving as a driver, dispatcher and in other positions
at Grand Island Express, he joined Chief Carriers in his current role.
“I didn’t know what to expect; I just knew this company was
about half the size of the one I came from,” he said. “But for me
personally, it was an opportunity to run my own truck line. The
neat thing about Chief is they give all their general managers autonomy
to run their business unit, so I was excited about the idea
of not having somebody constantly looking over my shoulder and
getting to execute some of the things that I wanted to do.”
Now, with two Best Fleets to Drive For awards to his credit (in
2015, he helped lead Grand Island to top honors in the large carrier
division) and a culture of mutual respect that permeates every
level of the organization, Winkler is looking forward to even bigger
things for Chief Carriers on the horizon.
“I think there’s a lot of growth coming in the next couple of years,”
he said. “I want us to continue to be a disrupter and a trailblazer in
this industry. We’re not afraid to try new things. I’m sure there’s a
whole bunch of people out there that think I’m a little bit crazy when
I say this, but I just think there’s a better way to do this business.”
TCA JULY/AUGUST 2023 WWW.TRUCKLOAD.ORG | TRUCKLOAD AUTHORITY 37